What’s Wrong This Month?

October must be an important month. We think so because, according to one website we looked at, there are no less than 33 “National Awareness Month” groups claiming that October is their month. A few can impact health and safety in the workplace, so we are going to highlight those this month in our safety tips.

The first that we want to point your direction towards is cyber security. October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month.” Anyone who has gone through an online contractor or vendor verification process has probably answered some questions about the systems your company has in place to protect the security of your computer and software systems. The below screen shot is from SCM’s ISNetworld account. Yes, we have answered the same questions that you have to answer.

Just this past week, the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), a branch of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued an advisory about the vulnerability of three industrial control systems. To read the advisory, follow this link: https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2024/10/03/cisa-releases-three-industrial-control-systems-advisories

More and more, you hear about threats to our companies, the economy, water systems, airports, hospitals, etc., that impact our computer systems. As we become more dependent on our computers, and use electronics to store our SDSs, control our processes, manage the chemicals that process our wastewater, and a lot of other important systems in our work life, the security of these systems becomes crucial.

In addition to CISA, the FBI is another agency that provides guidance for cyber security and will investigate potential cyber threats. To see more, here’s a link to their cyber security site: https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/cyber#What-You%20Should%20Know

From the FBI site, here’s some tips to protect yourself and your company from cyber threats:

• Keep systems and software up to date and install a strong, reputable anti-virus program.
• Be careful when connecting to a public Wi-Fi network and do not conduct any sensitive transactions, including purchases, when on a public network.
• Create a strong and unique passphrase for each online account.
• Set up multi-factor authentication on all accounts that allow it.
• Examine the email address in all correspondence and scrutinize website URLs before responding to a message or visiting a site.
• Don’t click on anything in unsolicited emails or text messages.
• Be cautious about the information you share in online profiles and social media accounts. Sharing things like pet names, schools, and family members can give scammers the hints they need to guess your passwords or the answers to your account security questions.
• Don’t send payments to unknown people or organizations that are seeking monetary support and urge immediate action.

Weekly Safety Challenge:

Share the latest spam email you received with your coworkers. Point out how you determined that it was spam or a phishing attempt.